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i wouldn't say it's a bad location as long as it continues to do well. sometimes a great place in an underserved or unconventional location is more contributive than another "joint on the strip" of jasper or whyte

^ Bingo. Bothy is great. It would be good to have a place like that downtown IN ADDITION to what's just off Calgary Trail. (Note that I mean a place like that, not another location for Bothy. Edmonton does the mini-franchise thing far too often.)

Apparently, it is a hangout for some media types. Global is virtually next door.

^You're right, however, they decided to go where they thought they could run a successful business and perhaps become a destination to those who live in the nearby 'mature' communities of Pleasantview, Empire Park, Lendrum, etc.

Once again, as entrepreneurs, they chose the location where they believed there was a market. Could one work downtown, Whyte, 124 Street, Garneau, 99 Street, 142 St and SPR, etc, yes. But they chose another location. Like it or not, there are some nice neighbourhoods immediately west of Gateway/Calgary Trail that are within walking distance.

I am simply saying that while this establishment has the right to be anywhere, it has CBD written all over it and yet they believe that a location on a rather ugly stretch out of the city has more potential.

Ian, I think you're being a bit unfair. Yes the location isn't great. But you don't seem to take lease rates and the like in to account. Starting bars and restaurants is an extremely risky business. Starting in a high profile location with lease rates two to three times higher doesn't exactly reduce that risk. Perhaps it was a conscious decision by the Hughes to get themselves established while keeping their costs down to see if the concept could be successful, and they intend on moving location after an initial period? Perhaps they weren't confident that they could get enough business in a prime location to pay for their costs? Perhaps they were limited in their investment outlay and couldn't afford a better location, or were forced to make business decisions based upon something more than "Gee where would IanO approve of."

^this isnt about a where would i approve, but simply pointing out where people choose to open certain types of businesses that often would have been opened more centrally in cities who demonstrate demand for them and support of them.

^^ There are mitigating factors to higher lease rates downtown, though, such as higher catchment, better demographics for your target market, increased visibility, and better accessibility. A place like this could easily get many times more customers downtown, not to mention transportation is less of an issue due to walkability factors and transit (or do we really think it's a good idea to have the majority of your customers driving to and from a wine and whiskey bar?).

I'm not saying the owner(s) didn't do their homework, they've probably got more business smarts than I do and surely weighed their choice of location carefully, but I just wanted to point out that there are factors that offset the risk of higher leasing costs.

I'm not sure why that location. Chris Hughes mentioned it to me well over a year ago, so it's been in the works awhile. Grant I believe is his brother, not sure if there's any other partners. You could look them up, they're both on Facebook.

I am simply saying that while this establishment has the right to be anywhere, it has CBD written all over it and yet they believe that a location on a rather ugly stretch out of the city has more potential.

Just saying...

Or maybe they thought CBD has too much competition. They'd be competing head to head with the likes of Lux, 100, The Hat, Moriarty's, 4th and Vine, etc.

When it comes to Rice Howard Way and vicinity, I'm not sure if there's such a thing as competition. I'd like to think Bothy would be a good replacement for what has been lost in the area recently: Steak Loft, CoCoDi, Nikita's, Bistro Praha, Brittanys, Boulevard and Four Rooms. In fact, a Bothy type place would look good in either the old Boulevard space on Jasper Ave or the Four Rooms space.

That said, maybe let's wait and see how Bothy fares. If their concept stands the test of time and isn't just a flash-in-the-pan trend, either Bothy will move downtown at some point - after all, the Ivory Club made the move from the southside - or expand, or a competing place will open downtown.

“You have to dream big. If we want to be a little city, we dream small. If we want to be a big city, we dream big, and this is a big idea.” - Mayor Stephen Mandel, 02/22/2012

The 124 Street location is better, but the South restaurant is better in terms of ambience (though it still can't get me behind the wheel of a car most of the time when I can walk to the 124 Street location). Both are really special places, though. Don't ever let a whisky drinker visit Edmonton without taking them there.